Occupational Exposure of Shiraz Dental Students to Patients’ Blood and Body Fluid

Statement of the problem: exposure to patients’ blood and body fluids would prone the dental students to the risk of blood borne infections. several studies have shown a high prevalence of these exposures in dental settings particularly in developing countries. however, few studies have evaluated the epidemiology of these exposures in dental students in iran.purpose: to assess the epidemiology of occupational exposures among dental students and consequently designing the appropriate interventions in order to prevent these exposures. materials and method: in this cross-sectional study performed during march to june 2011, all 191 shiraz clinical den-tal students were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. this questionnaire included demographic infor-mation and experience of sharp injuries and mucocutaneous contaminations. chi square and t-test were employed to evaluate the risk factors of exposure.results: 80%of the participants were exposed to the patients’ blood or body fluids during their clinical course. no asso-ciation was found between the exposure and demographic factors. injection needle and recapping were the most com-mon causes of these injuries. the most common sites that were injured and caused mucocutaneous contamination were finger and face, respectively. the most frequent activity causing contamination was using high-speed rotary instruments. only 6.4% of the exposures had been reported to the related authorities and the remains were underreported.conclusion: blood and body fluid exposure in dental setting is common and a lot of them are not reported. to reduce the hazards of these exposures, infection control authorities should design interventions especially for mentioned high-risk conditions. they should change dental students’ behavior especially regarding not recapping injection needles and using eyewear. dental schools seem to need a management center and a standard protocol for following up the expo-sures.